Brian Rudman: City's lost gift - nobody knows where it is, but at least we know it's gone

Auckland Harbour from Mt Eden, 1865.

If a historic painting by E.A. Gifford labelled "Auckland Harbour from Mt Eden, 1865" happens to be hanging on your wall, the Auckland City Council would like it back, please.

Well, that's exaggerating things rather. The reality is, the city council has shown little interest in recovering this large panorama of the Waitemata Harbour since it went missing from the mayoral office after the defeat of Sir Dove-Myer Robinson 40 years ago.

Indeed, nobody noticed the empty space on the wall until March 2005 when Michael Gifford, a descendant of the painter, was preparing a biography of the artist and asked to see the painting. City archivist H.N. Brahne wrote back enclosing copies of correspondence regarding the donation with the sad news that "unfortunately, we have been unable to locate any further information on the whereabouts of the painting".

Ironically, the work was given to the city for safekeeping by descendants of the original owner, late 19th century politician and solicitor W.F. Buckland, just a few months before it went missing.

Dr F.C. Buckland, the Canadian-domiciled grandson of the original owner, donated it because he was worried about its fate after he died.

In his letter, offering the painting to Mayor Robinson, he says, "My own sons were born in Canada and although one has visited Auckland once, I feel that it has no intrinsic value to them and might only become lost in the next generation".

City archives reveal the mayor accepting Dr Buckland's kind donation to the city with the promise that, "We have a fine Art Gallery which is up to high modern standards and we also have our War Memorial Museum and the Town Hall itself, and ... I am sure we would be able to find a prominent position to hang this picture".

On file also is a memo to the mayor from art gallery acting keeper Hamish Keith backgrounding Edward Augustus Gifford and rather sniffily noting that "although in need of some restoration and attention, [it] is a reasonably good example of the artist".

In April 1965, members of the Gifford and Buckland families attended the official unveiling of the work, which Mayor Robbie had hung in his Town Hall office. By year's end the painting had disappeared and no one at city hall noticed.

As St Heliers-resident descendant Doug Gifford noted in a letter to Mayor Dick Hubbard in January 2006: "Sadly, the city's husbandry of the painting since that time has been most lax, the painting has simply gone missing, absent without leave. It is now more than 40 years since the gifting, yet it has never once been seen on display in the Auckland Art Gallery."

Mr Gifford says he got no response to this letter.

Subsequently he approached art gallery director Chris Saines who told him he was delighted to hear the council owned another Gifford Auckland landscape to add to the four Giffords in the gallery collection.

Mr Saines says he and his staff have been investigating various leads - though not, perhaps, with quite the single-mindedness Mr Gifford would like. Mr Saines makes the point that the missing painting never got to be part of the gallery's collection.

"It was gifted to the Town Hall and it is not the case that paintings gifted to the Town Hall or the city default to the city art collection."

He says this painting seems to have been regarded like the portraits of the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh in the council chamber as "belonging to the furnishings of the Town Hall".

Mr Saines and members of his staff have tracked down council staff from half a century back and spoken to relatives of Mayor Robbie without finding any leads. Mr Keith remembers the painting in Robbie's office, but family members are adamant it was not packed up by council staff and added to his effects when they cleaned out his office for him after his defeat. Neither did it turn up after his death.

His niece and "mayoress" Dame Barbara Goodman told me yesterday, "I vaguely remember the painting but unfortunately have no idea as to where it is."

At nearly 1m wide and 46cm high, and featuring a view of the Waitemata from Mt Eden, it's hard to imagine someone doesn't know where this work is. Or that it got binned.